Jurriën timber Tamil Nadu government on Thursday expanded its Cabinet with the induction of 23 ministers into the Council of Ministers, including two legislators from the Congress party and 21 members from Chief Minister Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK). This takes the total size of the ministry to 33, including Vijay, who has multiple portfolios under him. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Lok Bhavan in the presence of several political leaders and party representatives. Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly inducted ministers. Of the 23 ministers inducted into the Cabinet, three are women: Kamali from the Avinashi constituency, C. Vijayalakshmi from Kumarapalayam and Jegadeshwari from Rajapalayam.
Other ministers inducted from TVK are Srinath, RV Ranjithkumar, Vinoth, Rajeev, B Rajkumar, V Gandhiraj, Mathan Raja, M Vijay Balaji, Logesh Tamilselvan D., Vijay Tamilan Parthiban, Ramesh, Kumar R., Thennarasu K., V. Sampath Kumar, Mohamed Farvas J., D. Sarathkumar, N. Marie Wilson and K Vignesh K. Leaders from the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), Communist parties, and senior Congress leader Girish Chodankar attended the event. Following the swearing-in, the State Government also did a rejig of portfolios among the ministers.
TVK’s one of the senior most members and 11-time MLA, K.
A. Sengottaiyan, who became a minister in the previous cohort, saw a change in portfolio from Finance to Revenue and Disaster Management. Marie Wilson of Radhakrishna Nagar constituency is now appointed as the new Finance Minister.
Srinath, MLA of Thoothukudi is the Minister for Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare.
Vinoth of Kumbakonam is Minister for Agriculture – Farmers Welfare. Mathan Raja P is the MSME minister. Ramesh, who was elected from the Srirangam constituency, has been appointed as the Minister for the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department. In a first for TN, the government has renamed the IT ministry as Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology & Digital Services with R Kumar of Velachery handed this portfolio.
The Cabinet expansion is being viewed as a significant milestone for the Congress party in Tamil Nadu. With the induction of MLAs Rajesh Kumar (Killiyoor) and P Viswanathan (Melur), the party has secured representation in the State Cabinet after a gap of nearly 59 years.
Meanwhile, VCK has decided to join TVK-led Tamil Nadu cabinet with the party planning to nominate its MLA Vanni Arasu, said VCK chief Thirumavalavan
(With inputs from bl intern G Mahalakshmi)
Published on May 21, 2026